The back field

Today was mostly cloudy and beautiful temperature.  Check out this update and see how the field is progressing.

Rabbits and Willow Trees

After lunch I drove to Chatam, VA to meet a breeder of California rabbits.  He sold me a three month old buck to go with the 4 female rabbits that I have currently.  He will have three months to himself before he has to get to work.  He has frog eyes and is substantially smaller than my females.

After settling in the rabbit, I planted 15ish willow trees that I had ordered a long time ago.  I think they were a dollar or something a piece, and I had forgotten I had ordered them until they showed up stuffed into the mailbox Friday.

Nine of the trees were planted in a circle similar to the debris shelter.  As they grow taller, I will scrape off the outer bark of the plants and tape them together.  Over time the trees will grow together building a fort as I continue to train the trees.

I planted some more weeping willow near the main road, and I planted three willows within a foot of each other in the back field.  These will be braided together to form seating similar to below.

SRC: http://www.inhabitat.com/wp-content/uploads/pooktre-ed01.jpg

After dinner I plan to transplant some more plants in the greenhouse since it is not as hot as during the day.  This has been the routine for the past several days and will continue for a while.

Ducks

I was very pleasantly surprised to see a hooded Merganser duck on the pond today.  He paddled away from me slowly after I missed him hiding where the water meets the bank.  I still haven't found my camera because I have not looked for it, but here is a third party image for reference.

https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH-VejYYhkoN4lkBujvyfytMAnSPWUWoc4D4AsU5BdoVjxlHDSzL7rF6krQZIN6v5I-Mts9umfh1p5N8CkkkxZ4nUVMrl5h_chYmFCHp_Rg8We4SSuntb1P5oa02b6xW3nIKmwl2Sq1z8/s1600/Hooded_Merganser.145143258_large.jpg

I don't know where my camera is

The past little bit I have taken off writing mainly because I lost my camera.  So in the mean time as I acquire a new cheap one or find my awesome old one, I thought I would bring you up to speed.

In the past few days I have planted 10 acres of yellow and red clover cover crops, 10 acres or diakon radish.  As the weather gets warmer I will seed the rest of the clover seed and cowpea mixture in the goat field so they will be happy.

I have hauled 6 large brush piles to the side of the huglekultur bed to line the bottom before larger wood is deposited.

I am very tired and my head hurts.  I need to drink more water tomorrow.

Something different in the dog food can

Tonight I herd some banging sounding like a trashcan lid coming from the porch downstairs.  I grabbed my readily accessible rifle and moved downstairs.  The raccoon only got away because of the lock on the door.  Tomorrow I will put a trap out there.

Two minutes after posting edit:  The banging continues, I have decided to wait in hopes it goes into the can like the possum did yesterday.  Update to follow.

The banging stopped several minutes ago.  Either the coon is inside the trashcan with a little bit of dog food left inside or it left all together.  I have decided to set a live trap tomorrow instead of shooting it this evening because I would like to skin it and maybe put some meat away.  I say maybe incase you are judgmental that will give you a way to think that I don't plan to eat this raccoon.

Waoh!!!!!! Adrenaline

My heart is pumping and my hands are shaking.  Ash was sleeping on the carpet in my bedroom.  After a while of sleeping she went down stairs.

She walked to the door so I put her leash on her to walk her around before bed.  When we came back she was sniffing at the trashcan where her food is kept, the top laying on the ground.  I let her back inside and grabbed her scoop from the dishwasher.  Reaching into the bucket, the hair brushed against my wrist where the thumb joins the arm.

My hand got out of there so fast.  Pulling the light from my pocket tied to the belt, I pointed the beam into the bottom of the trashcan.  The possum was curled so it couldn't see me, but it could see the light.  After a few seconds it started to hiss slightly.  At this point I grabbed Ash from inside where she was still waiting for her food.  Once I pointed to the possum she knew what was up.  She tried to pull the can over, but not before I kicked it to the ground.  She went head first after the possum biting it several times viscously while it played possum and took up a beating.

As Ash was dragging the possum out into the yard, I grabbed my rifle that I love so much.  After calling at Ash to move several times, she got the idea that I wanted to shoot it and moved out of the way.  I shot it twice.  Ash was rewarded with the kill for her honorable service and extreme bravery.  I will be more aware in the future.  When the hair touched my hand, it instantly reminded me of the coon skin cap my friend Jerry had given me.  The mind body connection was ridiculous and immediate.

A warm house

Last night I chose to turn off the heat.  With several 80 wool blankets on top of my regular sheet I went to sleep.  When I woke up the air in the hose was crisp, but not uncomfortable.  The thermostat read 50 degrees inside with snow coming down outside, but I was pretty toasty until I got out of bed in my underwear.  This highlights the importance of proper insulation and windows on a homestead.  When a legitimate amount of time is spent hauling wood from forest to the woodpile and from the woodpile into the house, a drafty house can keep you close to the stove.  Efficiency starts at insulation.  The debris hut uses leaves, our modern construction uses fiberglass to moderate success.  Natural building methods have been used since the beginning of time and pared with modern technology can give us the upmost insulation.  Straw bale construction using hay bales and earth excavated from the foundation creates an inexpensive means to create warm houses without trucking in extensive amounts of lumber.

If you are interested in natural building and want to get in on the construction this spring and summer, email me at sustainablehomesteadinstitute@gmail.com

Spring is here

Spring is here.  There are many plants started in the greenhouse.  Today the neighbor and I spend several hours fixing the goat fence for what will hopefully be the last time in a while.  Ash is in there, and there is another line of electric wire at the bottom.  She has been in there several hours so hopefully everything is good.

For dinner tonight I went to my favorite Chinese food place in town.  Upon getting out of the car, a man approached me bleeding profusely from his hand.  He asked me if I had anything to wipe that off with.  Immediately I turned back to the car and grabbed my medical pouch which is always relatively near by and put on gloves.  He was not expecting that level of medical attention and was kinda stunned.  I asked him what had happened as I started to wipe the blood from between his thumb and palm.  He asked me if I was a cop.  I said no.  He asked me if I was sure I was not a cop.  I told him I carried a gun, but I definitely wasn't a cop.  Turns out he was looking through the dumpsters for something to eat and had cut it on some glass.  I then covered his hand in Betadine solution, wiped off the excess, and did it again.  We parted ways after some more wrap.  Just highlights the importance of being prepared.

Shining through glass and plastic

Apart from the normal walk arounds, today was a big day.  Hatcher's Window Service started installing new windows.  The difference is immediate so far.  The appearance is substantially increased as well as the amount of light let into the room.  The draft is eliminated.  There are still several more windows to go.

The new

The old window

Last week I started some lettuce.

After rearranging the heat mat setup, several types of peppers and tomatoes were planted in 72 cell trays.  This greenhouse is so much fun to be in with the trickling water of the aguaponics marking time.  I do think I need a larger pump, which I have, I just need to swap it out.  

The greenhouse space fills up quickly.

Waiting

Just when I though spring might be about so show itself, the weather man calls for some more snow hitting the north east.  Today was beautiful, and I made use of it doing some things around the farm.  I pulled out a bunch of wiring from the Toyota farm truck that was left from when it had lights and former life as a rescue squad truck.

I picked some hay up that will last me through until next year, and spent the rest of the day cleaning up around the farm.

I am interested to how the storm effects the line I painted yesterday.

Tomorrow, weather permitting, a long awaited renovation to the house will start.  The original windows have finger sized holes around where the window should seal to the frame.  A local window company will oversee the installation of the West Windows that are also locally made.

Replacement windows in this case are vinyl, dual pained glass, with low e gas inserted between the sheets of glass.  There are a lot of options when purchasing windows, but the overall effects is the same.  Increased insulation to the living space.  I am excited to see the change in power bill/wood pile over the next year and hopeful that new windows will help in the fight against stinkbugs.  I am sure there will be several other places I'll find that will need to be sealed up.

The A Frame Level and Marking a Contour Line

This afternoon there was a possum in the goat field.  After watching him walk around for several minutes I had had enough.  He was semi quickly dispatched.  Better accuracy and a zero scope would be better, something to do tomorrow.

Possum pt 1 pt 2

Several days ago I put together an A frame level.  This essential tool is used for finding level points on the landscape and utilizes a plumb bob and simple calibrations.

The A Frame Level

Using the Level

The final line

I laid out a line that will become a hugulkultur bed.  Hugulkultur beds are trenches filled with wood and covered again with loose dirt.  Check back to see this project progressing or email us at sustainablehomesteadinstitute@gmail.com to register for upcoming out upcoming open house.

Starting Seed

Today marks the second day of seed starts.  I spent a good deal of time developing a planting calendar this year.  I have already begun some peppers.  I am still waiting on some more heat mats to help the germination rate of the peppers planted today.